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October 2001• Vol.9 Issue 10 Page(s) 80-81 in print issue
Plug-ins: InDesign Programs That Let You Do More

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When you buy a new software program, the list of tasks you can accomplish with it seems endless. Before long, however, you will probably find yourself wishing your program had a few more capabilities. Enter the plug-in. Instead of buying a whole new application to tackle your new task list, you can simply buy or download a little plug-in that will take care of your needs. Plug-ins are essentially small software programs that add features to a larger program.

Adobe InDesign is a comprehensive desktop publishing program, but it can still benefit from plug-ins that increase its usefulness. In fact, some plug-ins, called required plug-ins, are automatically installed when you install InDesign. These plug-ins are required for InDesign to run; some examples include Print, Gradient Fill, and Text Editor. Other plug-ins are optional; they provide features in a wide range of types, such as graphics, Layout, and Text. Some examples of these optional plug-ins include Printer Styles, Links Panel, and Text Color Panel. Check the Required and Plug-ins folder in your main InDesign folder to find these basic plug-ins.

Find & Install. When you install a plug-in, one of two things will happen: Either the installer will place the plug-in in the appropriate folder for you, or you’ll have to drag it there yourself. (Follow any installation instructions that came with the plug-in.) Once installed, you don’t have to specially launch most plug-ins; they will appear as additional options in menus, dialog boxes, and palettes; you can use them by making the right selections from these sources.

Get information about plug-ins already installed on your computer by pressing the CTRL key while choosing About InDesign from the Help menu. You can also inspect and customize sets of plug-ins using the Configure Plug-ins command from the Help menu.

All of the following plug-ins are available in demo versions that you can download from their respective Web sites. Many also appear in the Goodies folder of the InDesign installation CD; we’ve added a note to the plug-in description when this is the case. In addition, all of the plug-ins here work with the Windows OS (operating system), and most of them work with the Mac platform, as well.

Cropster. Looking for a simple way to produce multifolded brochures or newsletters? Cropster ($99) lets you set crop marks for bleed, trim, folds, and page gutters. You can choose to insert date and time, the document name, a logo, and other information into pages. Cropster supports measurement arrows for ease in proofreading.

http://www.gluon.com/

InBooklet. With InBooklet ($50), you can easily convert reader spreads (the spreads you see on-screen) to printer spreads (the spreads as they will appear in print). Allowing full control over margins, gaps, bleed, creep, and more, this is a great solution for anyone looking for finer control and preview options in the printing process. You can find a demo for InBooklet on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.alap.com/products/inbooklet.html

InData. InData ($300) lets you apply formatting to large amounts of information (both text and graphics). This is a real time-saving tool for those who do a lot of repetitive publishing tasks. You can find a demo for InData on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.emsoftware.com/

InModify. InModify (free) lets users edit frames, text, pictures, lines, text wrap, and more, all from one dialog box. The controls within the dialog box will vary depending on what panel you choose. For example, on the Picture panel, you can do such things as set picture origin and size and rotate or flip it. You can find a free copy of InModify on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.alap.com/products/inmodify.html

With the InPrint plug-in, you can select and edit certain parts of a page before saving or printing them.

InPrint. With the InPrint ($50) plug-in, users can select portions of an InDesign page to print or save (this plug-in supports a number of formats, including JPEG [Joint Photographic Experts Group], PDF [Portable Document Format], and HTML [Hypertext Markup Language]). The Print dialog box gives you a preview of the selection, where you can change the origin point or the selection’s width and height. This plug-in is valuable for anyone looking for more control over the printing process. You can find a demo on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.alap.com/products/print.html

ItemMarks. ALAP’s ItemMarks ($50) gives users three panels to control crops, marks, and placements for objects and pages. The Crops Panel lets you easily control trim, bleed, and safety. The Marks Panel includes controls for press marks, plate tags, and mark specifications. The Placement Panel lets you control the position of marks as they will appear on the page.

http://www.alap.com/products/itemmarks.html

MadeToPrint. MadeToPrint ($349) will help agencies, editorial offices, and anyone in the prepress industry. With MadeToPrint, users can create and save Job Styles and then send them out to different output devices (such as several different printers). Among its many features is the ability to create precise PDF page sizes.

http://www.callassoftware.com/mtp_e.htm

MagForce. The MagForce (free download demo; $895) plug-in provides a simple way to integrate ad layouts into InDesign. With MagForce, you can import ad data from Excel, Filemaker, and other applications; view and manage ads; and more. Adobe includes a demo of MagForce on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.maned.com/maned/external/products/magforce/indesign.html

NudgeIt. Gain better control over the placement of any item on a page with ALAP’s NudgeIt ($20) plug-in. With NudgeIt, you can “nudge” objects or groups of objects a specific distance in any of eight different directions. You can also change settings to rotate objects either clockwise or counterclockwise.

http://www.alap.com/products/nudgeit.html

PDF CheckUp. With PDF CheckUp, InDesign users have an easy (not to mention free) way to check PDF documents for color usage, font usage (repair or replace missing fonts), resolution, and more. This is a great proofing tool for anyone who prints PDFs or posts them online. Adobe included a copy of PDF CheckUp on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.enfocus.com/demos.htm

ShadowCaster. Think of it as the equivalent of a solar plug-in: With Shadow-Caster ($100), you can add soft shadows to text or graphics from within InDesign (as opposed to having to switch to a graphics program to do it). You can silhouette, outline, or ghost the shadows, and you can even choose what color they’ll be. Shadow-Caster is a breeze to use; just select the object or text you want to add a shadow to, select your preferences from the CreateShadow palette, and press Create. If you find a shadow type you want to use again, save it as a Shadow Style for quick access to it in the future. A demo of ShadowCaster is available on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.alap.com/products/shdw_indesign.html

Smart Layout. Smart Layout ($398) lets users optimize layouts by combining such project elements as head, intro, and body into a single page item you can then act on as one unit. This lets you easily resize pages, use grids or borders for the whole article, and much more. You can just as quickly uncombine elements so you can edit them individually. This plug-in can be of great value to those who work with projects, magazines, newspapers, catalogues, and databases that use multiple frames or columns. You can use Smart Layout in conjunction with other WoodWing Software plug-ins, and there is a demo on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.woodwing.com/smartlayout.html

Smart Styles. Smart Styles ($109) gives users a powerful way to set a number of formatting options. Smart Styles can handle all page item properties, such as fill, colors, stroke, and number of columns. You can set and store styles as Style Libraries, making the use of repetitive formatting much easier and more efficient. If you work with multiple layouts that have comparable formatting, such as magazines, newspapers, and advertisements, Smart Styles could be a valuable addition to your plug-in folder. You will find a demo of Smart Styles on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.woodwing.com/smartstyles.html

Smart XML Export. If you want to put InDesign material online without learning complex languages such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), check out Smart XML Export ($179). This plug-in can do such things as translate InDesign paragraphs and character styles to XML tags and export content to be used with HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) editors such as Dreamweaver. This plug-in integrates with both Smart Layout and Smart Styles, and you can find a demo on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.woodwing.com/sxe/sxe.html

StarBurst. Starbursts can be a perfect way to draw attention to elements on a page. ALAP’s StarBurst ($30) plug-in gives you eight different types of starbursts. With the StarBurst tool (available from the tool palette), you can configure twists, depth, and more. You can also edit each section of the starburst, giving you complete control over the final look of your starburst. A demo for StarBurst is available on the InDesign installation CD.

http://www.alap.com/products/starburst.html

Keep Plugging. Plug-ins can greatly expand InDesign’s capabilities, and you can find links to even more of them by visiting Adobe’s InDesign Third-Party Plug-ins page at http://www.adobe.com/products/plugins/indesign/main.html.

by Rich Gray

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